Return to Regularly Scheduled Posts: In Progress Illustrations

I nearly missed today's post, too.

Just as I got home this evening I thought to myself, 'Alright, time to sit on the couch and chill... but wait... what day is it again? Shit!' You see, the specifics of days have been elusive to me the past week or two.  Do please forgive my absent mind. The exact day isn't so much important for me to keep track of in my schedule right now, resulting in Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday often becoming interchangeable.

But anyhoo...

I'm working on a cover and interior illustration for the book Sabriel and thought today I would share some in progress work!

Here is the drawing for the cover. I'll be working traditionally for this one, in an inkwash with some watercolor methinks.

Behold, the interior! This is of the scene between Mogget and Sabriel after the Paperwing crashes. Going to ink this digitally and then probably do some flat color washes.

Lastly, value studies! Going with the left one for the cover and still figuring out the interior (but I'm leaning towards the darker one on the right).

I'll be sure to share the end result once they're finished!

Sabriel Head Studies

Sorry for being a day late! I realized last night what day it was (you'd be surprised how often I lose track) far too late, while drawing some head studies.

Allow me to share! Sabriel head studies! 

For one of my classes this semester (Narrative Illustration), as well as my thesis, I'm doing both a cover and interior illustration for Garth Nix's Sabriel. So before I start the drawing for them, I wanted to nail down her character a bit. I think it's going to be a synergy of the first two on the top left.

I'm excited to work on these illustrations and will definitely be sharing them as they develop!

Plein Air Painting in the Chill San Francisco Morn'

For today's Landscape Painting class we went to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco for some plein air painting. No matter what I do or how I try to prepare, SF always gets me with its chilliness. The entire four hours of outdoor painting (minus the last ten minutes--literally--when the sun finally shone through) were quite chilly and we were all trying to stay warm and paint our lil' cold fingers off.

I had a lot of fun, even having to lug all the painting and easel shit around! I'm looking forward to developing my environmental painting skills.... because they sure need some work.

Have  a great weekend, everybody!

300!

Onwards the count goes! There will be a midway celebration once I reach 500, for sure.

Prepare to be Inked!

I am now past 300 heads in the Thousand Head Challenge! These bad boys are waiting to be inked and then I shall share them when they are done.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Inspiration

For today's post I thought I would share five of my top influential/artists I dig/these guys are the shit.

I think it's great to have influences and each of the artists below always inspire me with their work. Also, I don't have any drawings to post today so I thought this would be a good idea. Although I did just hit the 300 heads mark! Clean-ups will be posted Friday.

Meanwhile,

Top 5 Artists/Illustrators/Animators Who Influence Me Now

(in no particular order)

1. Tara McPherson

Tara McPherson is one of the first artists I really got into (outside of Art History) and I've loved her work ever since. In fact, I think I've fallen even deeper. I love her use of color and the feelings each of her paintings or drawings evoke. Her work is very playful but there's also that twinge of darkness or oddity which just tugs at my heartstrings so.

Just lookit that little guy!

2. Joao Ruas

Joao Ruas came to my attention via a Spectrum issue, I believe. I enjoy his use of color, especially as an accent to a more subdued monochromatic feeling. I also dig how he uses texture and flat color while also rendering the forms mostly realistically.

Such nice, thin transparencies.

3. Audrey Kawasaki

Audrey Kawasaki's work feels so ethereal. Her girls are magical and imploring. I really enjoy her lost and found edges and shapes, greatly paired with the wood textures and line quality.

And look! She does boys too. Dey so perty...

3. Lauren Montgomery

I only recently was introduced to Lauren Montgomery's work, but I ate it up with vigor! I absolutely love her anatomical shorthand, how she simplifies and stylizes the human form while also referencing realism. Mmmm, so good! Her line quality is full of motion and she's got a strong grasp of anatomy.

Check out those sweet lines...

5. Dan Dos Santos

I'm really drawn towards Dan Dos Santos' work for several reasons. I really enjoy his use of color and appreciate his realistic rendering, while not going full-blown realism. His compositions are always great and his illustrations grab then trap my eye, which is a damn good use for book covers. I like the way he brings characters to life, making them interesting and communicating something about them even in one image alone.

This one's pretty damn funny. Funny and badass.

I hope you enjoyed my sharing! Hopefully you were exposed to a new artist or remembered an old love. There are plenty more I enjoy than just these five, but at the moment these guys are who I look to for inspiration the most. If you have any artists you're busting to share, please do!